Treating Early Hospitalization Blood Pressure Deemed a No-No for Patient Safety
For older people hospitalized with noncardiovascular diagnoses, intensive lowering of asymptomatic inpatient blood pressures (BPs) may constitute overtreatment and lead to harm, observational data suggested. U.S. veterans acutely treated for elevated systolic BP in the first 48 hours of hospitalization — without evidence of acute end organ damage — suffered more adverse events when counting […]
Opinion | The Medical System Is Failing Black Kids With Severe Mental Illness
My Black patient spent most of February in a locked inpatient psychiatric ward. Well, he wasn’t my patient anymore, but he had been at one time. As a resident working with hospitalized children with severe mental illnesses, he was one of my very first patients. He helped me to become a better doctor. I wish […]
Prediabetes May Be an Independent Risk Factor for MI
Even prediabetes seemed to spell bad news for heart health, according to a national inpatient sample study. Prediabetes — defined as an Hba1c between 5.7% to 6.4% — among hospitalized patients was associated with 41% higher odds for myocardial infarction (MI, OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.35-1.47) in a general model, reported Geethika Thota, MBBS, of […]
Maternal Health, Equity Key Factors in Proposed CMS Rule for Hospitals
In a new proposed payment rule for inpatient and long-term hospitals, CMS suggested the establishment of a “birthing-friendly” hospital designation in an effort to promote better health outcomes among mothers. In addition to addressing the nation’s maternal health crisis, the proposed rule includes three equity-focused measures as a way to improve care among underserved and […]
Tufts Nurses Rally for Children’s Access to Care as Closure Looms
As the shuttering of 41 pediatric inpatient beds at Tufts Children’s Hospital in Boston draws near, nurses rallied on Tuesday over their concern that the closure will severely limit access to care. Though the Tufts Medicine Health System reasoned in its public announcement of the closure that it would convert 41 pediatric inpatient beds at […]